BY JONATHAN SKUZA
Pittsford (19-4-2) fell to Section III’s West Genesee (21-0-3 ) 2-1 in the NYSPHSAA Division I semifinals Saturday afternoon.
The first period of the contest saw no scoring and conservative game plans from both teams. West Genesee dominated the early part of the contest outshooting the Panthers 9-0 before Pittsford registered its first shot. Pittsford did start to play with some confidence before the period concluded getting some chances.
The second saw some more action as West Genesee broke the scoreless tie on the power play when a Jacob Pensabene point shot kicked out for a rebound to Christian Ball who put home the rebound chance to give the Wildcats the lead.
Pittsford responded with a power play goal of their own later in the period. A Drew Ricketts point shot was tipped home by Ryan Munzinger to tie the contest for the Panthers.
Pittsford got a very fortunate call towards the end of the second as a shot on net rolled up on Pittsford’s goaltender Aden Brown’s stick and trickled into the back of the net, but was waived off due to a late high sticking call on West Genesee.
Most of the third period the two traded chances as both teams looked to break the deadlock. West Genesee broke the tie when Nick Meluni skated all the way from his own defensive zone into the Pittsford zone and threw a back handed shot on net that kicked out for a rebound that was put home by Michael Vetter.
Pittsford pulled Brown with under two minutes to go and pushed for the equalizer, but fell short in the end.
Pittsford finishes the year with its second Class A sectional title in three years and sixth in the last decade. The Panthers say goodbye to seven seniors who were a great foundation for first year head coach Rory Foster.
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